Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 14,742 call options on the company. This is an increase of 45% compared to the typical daily volume of 10,166 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GILD. Maxim Group cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Gilead Sciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.39.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. The trade was a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 598,414 shares of company stock valued at $55,953,200 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $98.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $92.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.96. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $99.45. The company has a market cap of $122.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,093.11, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

Gilead Sciences, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines in the areas of unmet medical need in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides Biktarvy, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey, Truvada, Complera/ Eviplera, Stribild, Sunlencs, and Atripla products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; Veklury, an injection for intravenous use, for the treatment of COVID-19; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vemlidy, and Viread for the treatment of viral hepatitis.